Parkour, or free running, is actually loosely understood to be the skill of moving. Parkour entails using your body and objects within the environment to get around bodily hurdles. Essentially, the specialist of Parkour (a traceur), may run, leap, ascend or perform additional gymnastic type actions to get from one point to the other.

Parkour includes a specific focus on speed and effectiveness. Parkour coaching stresses practical power, fitness, stability and co-ordination. A traceur should be acutely conscious of their environment so they might quickly get around the route.

David Belle's Parkour

David Belle is the founding father of Parkour. Trained in gymnastics and fighting techniques, Belle highly supported building practical power. Belle started working with other people to train them ways to get from one point to the other and again using some crucial fundamental movements.

Belle stressed that Parkour wasn't for showing off however for being used in crucial scenarios. Parkour thus remains regarded as self-discipline as opposed to an activity.

Parkour Training

Practicing Parkour can be challenging because of insufficient publicly available hurdle courses. Usually a metropolitan environment offers lots of challenges where you can style your own hurdle program. Nevertheless, professionals should show respect for private and public property.

There are many fundamental actions which you can use to practice Parkour. Sound practice calls for hurdles that require stability, jumping, landing, swinging, moving, or even catapulting. You need to be certain to start with hurdles that aren't overly difficult. Attempting to hop over structures in your first practice program will be very hazardous. Accidental injuries are common even if you start slow.

Functional Power -- What you could Gain Through Parkour

Parkour depends on functional power to get from one point to the other. The body should be in maximum health to do Parkour actions. You must have a mix of power, endurance, speed and memory. Parkour creates a great work out when you are instructed to use your body in the most effective and practical possible way.

Parkour training is extremely difficult, but it's a good work out that may really help you get fit with out needing any kind of unique equipment. There might be restrictions on where you train and just how you train at first, however it could be a useful self-discipline to learn for those who have persistence.

There you have it. If you wish to be the best you can be at Parkour, the day to start training yourself is today.

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Parkour Training - The Art of Moving (Freerunning)

Parkour, or freerunning, is loosely defined as the art of moving. Parkour involves using one's body and objects in the environment to navigate physical obstacles. In essence, a practitioner of Parkour (a traceur), will run, jump, climb or perform other gymnastics type movements to get from one point to another. Parkour has a particular focus on speed and efficiency. Parkour training emphasizes functional strength, conditioning, balance and coordination. A tracuer must be keenly aware of their surroundings so that they may rapidly navigate a path.

David Belle's Parkour

David Belle is the founder of parkour. Trained in gymnastics and martial arts, Belle strongly believed in building functional strength. Belle began working with others to train them how to get from one point to another and back again using some key basic movements. Belle stressed that parkour was not for showing off but for being used in critical situations. Parkour is therefore considered a discipline rather than a sport.

Parkour Training
Training for parkour can be difficult due to lack of publicly available obstacle courses. Generally an urban environment provides plenty of challenges where you can design your own obstacle course. However, practitioners must show respect for public and private property.

There are plenty of basic movements that you can use to practice parkour. Good practice will involve obstacles that require balance, leaping, landing, swinging, rolling, or vaulting. You should take care to begin with obstacles that are not overly challenging. Trying to jump over buildings on your first practice session would be quite dangerous. Injuries are prevalent even when you start slow.

Prince of Persia Workout
A staple of Jake Gyllenhaal's workout to prepare for his role as Prince Dastan in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was parkour. He trained directly with David Belle. Jake began by doing gymnastics routines. Jake advanced to performing jumps on harder surfaces and even did some of his own stunts in the movie. Jake credits parkour for helping him to get in phenomenal shape for Prince of Persia.

Functional Strength - What You Can Gain From Parkour
Parkour relies on functional strength to get from one point to another. Your body must be in peak physical condition to perform parkour movements. You need to have a combination of strength, stamina, power and speed. Parkour makes for an excellent workout as you are forced to use your body in the most efficient and functional way possible.

Parkour training is highly challenging, but it is a workout that can really help you get in great shape without requiring any special equipment. There may be limitations on where you train and how you train in the beginning, but it can be a valuable discipline to learn if you have patience.

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Free Running the Extreme Sport

When I discovered that the daring jumps and leaps over walls higher than those on Alcatraz made by James Bond, in the movie Casino Royale, were actual moves from an extreme sport, I had to know more. As I dug deep into the origins of Free Running, I came to realise that it's more than just an adrenaline-charged sport, it's a way of defying both physical and mental boundaries and like most things in life: It's all in the mind.

So the story goes like this: There was once this incredibly intuitive French naval officer, Georges Hébert, who went on a voyage to Africa. Upon noticing the exceptionally robust physique of the African warriors, Hébert realised that when it comes to physical strength, agility and fitness, there is no better gymnastics coach than nature itself. And so it began - a physical method of military training based on energetic, natural movements combined with the altruistic virtues Hébert considered to be so essential. He called it, "méthode naturelle."

From there, it's simple. An architect came along and created a kind of obstacle course which would serve to further the strengths of the French soldiers. These methods later influenced the life of a young boy called, David Belle, a high-school drop-out, who developed these methods into an extreme sport, known as parkour. What parkour became was a way of getting from point A to point B by negotiating tricky obstacles and overcoming urban structures with death-defying leaps and dashing vaults. But what most traceurs, or practitioners of parkour are most interested in, is "human and urban reclamation," - overcoming both the physical and mental obstacles of modern society and defying the fear that causes hesitation and makes a hurdle look more threatening than it really is. It's about moving the way people were meant to move - relying on instinct, thinking on their feet, and using intuition rather than logic. Very cool indeed. It is on this foundation that Free Running found its basis - taking freedom of movement to its most extreme level.

As a way of presenting the extreme sport of parkour, to English speaking society, the film Jump London, featured David Belle's partner in crime, Sebastien Foucan performing nail-biting dash vaults, cat passes and balances on The Royal Albert Hall and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to name but a few. But while parkour is a sporting discipline, Free Running has developed into complete freedom of movement, urban acrobatics and self-expression through movement. Free Running is about, "finding your own way," - no imitations, no limitations; just pure freedom of movement.

It is not surprising why Free Running has spread like wildfire and is now an internationally acclaimed extreme sport. South Africa boasts some of its very own Free Running hotspots and a rapidly growing society of free runners. Cape Town tops the charts with the University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University Campus, the Company Gardens, Muizenberg Beach and the Cape Town CBD being popular Free Running destinations. After all, who ever said you have to take the stairs, when you can just jump down to the next level? Ever asked yourself that question? Then you've simply got to try this.

A post by Faustino Asprilla
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